April 18

1506 – The cornerstone of the current St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome is laid.

1521 – The trial of Martin Luther continues into its second day during the assembly of the Diet of Worms.

1775 – Paul Revere and others ride to warn the leadership of the rebellion, and militia, that British troops are moving out from Boston towards Concord.

1783 – The first instance of slaves in the U.S. being counted as 3/5th of persons (at this time, for the purpose of taxation), is introduced as a resolution of the Congress of the Confederation to be part of the Articles of Confederation.

1831 – The University of Alabama is founded in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

1847 – U.S. troops under General Winfield Scott outflank General Santa Anna’s forces in battle at Sierra Gordo, near Xalapa, the capital of Veracruz,  during the Mexican-American War, opening the way for the further invasion of Mexico.

1906 – A magnitude 7.9 earthquake and fire destroy much of San Francisco, California, killing over 3000 people.

1912 – The Cunard liner RMS Carpathia brings 705 of the survivors from the RMS Titanic to New York City.

1923 – Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York opens for the Yankees’ first home game, hosting the Boston Red Sox.

1942 –  U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle, leading 51 Officers and 28 Airmen, flying 16 specially modified B-25B Mitchell bombers, are launched from the U.S. Navy carrier, CV-8 USS Hornet on a mission to attack targets on the main islands of  Japan.

1943 – Over Bougainville Island in the Solomons, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto IJN is killed when his aircraft is shot down by U.S. P-38 Lightning fighters, after radio messages informing Japanese bases of the schedule of his inspection tour had been intercepted and decoded.

1983 – A suicide bomber in Lebanon destroys the U.S. embassy in Beirut, killing 63 people.

1988 – In retaliation for the USS Samuel B. Roberts striking an Iranian mine in the Persian Gulf, the U.S. launches Operation Praying Mantis against Iranian naval forces in the largest naval battle since World War II.

1997 – Due to heavy snow and ice melts up stream, several dikes are breached along the Red River of the North, causing flooding in Minnesota, North Dakota, and Southern Manitoba, resulting in over $3.5 billion in property damage.

2019 – A redacted version of the Mueller Report is released to the United States Congress and the public.